


You need me!

by AsrielDremurr



Series: Jerome Valeska/Bruce Wayne Oneshots [4]
Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-05
Updated: 2018-04-05
Packaged: 2019-04-18 23:24:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14224089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsrielDremurr/pseuds/AsrielDremurr
Summary: Jerome lands in Arkham again after kidnapping Bruce for the second time. One day he gets surprised by a visitor. Will this visit change everything?





	You need me!

Jerome stared at the grey wall of the interrogation room he had been brought into. He still wasn't sure why but the guards in Arkham always thought of something. Something to humiliate him, to show him that he was as low in place in comparison to them as the dirt on the ground.

He tried to move his arms but it was no use. They had handcuffed him to the chair he was sitting on. Of course they had. If he would do something that upset them only a little, they would gag him, too. They had done so before. And if that didn't help, well... There was always the method of beating him up and stuffing him back into his cell.

Jerome wondered if this was his fault. If he had done something wrong. But he couldn't remember anything. Maybe it had only been a glance at one of the guards that had lasted for longer than a second. He wasn't sure.

A key suddenly got turned and the door unlocked to reveal a guard behind it. It was a woman with dark eyes and an emotionless face. He had certainly seen her before. "Only fifteen minutes. After that he'll get back into his cell.," she stated to someone Jerome could not see. He shifted in his chair as much as he could to get a glance of his visitor but the cuffs kept him in place.

The guard stepped aside to let the visitor in. Jerome just stared at the person in utter disbelief, wishing to be able to pinch himself to check if this was real or not just one of his dreams.

He had often had dreams like this over the last couple of weeks. Of him, cuffed and tied to a chair, and his visitor. Jerome hadn't been able to believe that it was truly him who would come to visit. And then the boy across from him had smiled, so bright that his heart had started racing. He had always wondered why. After waking up the next morning with his heart beating heavily and a smile on his face he had tried to figure out what it was about his visitor that made the ginger so happy to see him. He had never been able to find an answer.

And now here they were, Jerome cuffed to a chair and his visitor looking at him. But he didn't smile. He didn't have that bright, blinding smile on his face that Jerome had always imagined. Instead his eyes were cold and as dark as the clothes he wore. He just stared at the ginger, not saying a word.

Jerome felt a weird pain in his chest but decided to play along. If his visitor didn't smile, he had to do it for him. "Heya, Brucie!," he greeted with a grin that was so wide that it hurt. The teen across from him didn't show a reaction to the familiar greeting. He just stepped forward a little, keeping his brown eyes locked on the ginger in front of him.

Jerome didn't understand. How could he be so different all of a sudden? He looked so grown up with his dark clothes and messy brown hair and Jerome wanted nothing more than run his fingers through it. But he wasn't able to. He struggled against the cuffs, wanting to at least get a little reaction, a flinch, a scoff, a word, _anything _.__

__Bruce had always been so eager to make remarks about him or insult him but now there was just silence. And it was slowly driving Jerome insane. Even more than what the guards described him as. They were creative, thinking of new names to call him almost every day. But Bruce was different. Bruce _mattered _.___ _

____"Look how much you've grown, Brucie boy!," he commented, using his old nickname for him on purpose. It did nothing. "You're a man now, aren't'cha? My, my, I bet there's a lot of girls swooning over you!" His heart hurt at those words but he couldn't hold them back, couldn't stop talking now that he had started to. "I bet by now you've got yourself a girlfriend, haven't you? One of those cute girls that giggle at everything you say. I bet you've kissed her. You have, haven't you? Often. Of course you have. You're Bruce Wayne. You can have anyone you want!"_ _ _ _

____"ENOUGH!" Jerome flinched at Bruce's loud voice. "Enough. You think you can hurt me by talking like this? You think you can make me mad again? _You think I will play your games again? _" The teen clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white. "You think you can play with me again? Manipulate me? No! Not this time. I won't fall for your tricks this time!" He paused to catch his breath. Jerome just stared at him, pain banging inside of him with every beat of his heart.___ _ _ _

______"Your games don't work on me anymore, Jerome! I've beaten you! Many times! I've learned from my mistakes. I have grown, yes. And you aren't effecting me anymore." Bruce let his gaze wander to the floor, avoiding the other's eyes. "I don't need you anymore. You mean nothing to me." His voice was only a whisper. He sounded bitter and hurt, heartbroken even._ _ _ _ _ _

______Jerome could later tell the exact moment he snapped. It had been Bruce whispering the words that had been part of his nightmares for weeks. They echoed in his head, over and over again. _I don't need you. Why would you matter to me? You hurt me. You nearly killed me! Why would I need you? _His fists clenched, muscles tensing. The metal of the handcuffs cut into his flesh but he didn't realize it. _You're useless to me. A clown, a joke. Why would I ever care about you? "How can you say that? You need me, Bruce! You are _nothing _without me! There won't ever be anyone who knows you like I do! Who understands you like I do. Those girls that are after you will never come close to what we have, Brucie! You are too special for those normal people! You need someone who is like you! You need me!"______ _ _ _ _ _

___________The look on Bruce's face made Jerome want to tear his hair out in rage and desperation. It was a look of pure anger and disgust. It hurt so much more than any wound ever had. "Need you? Why would I? You kidnapped me! You only ever hurt me! How can you say that there is something between us if all you ever did was torture me? How can you say that you understand me if you don't even know anything about me? I don't care about you, Jerome! And I sure as hell don't need you!"_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________With that he knocked on the metal door to signal the guard that he wanted to leave. Jerome gasped for air. He was suddenly robbed of all the words he had wanted to say to Bruce once he actually got another chance to meet him. "B-brucie! How can you say that?" His voice hitched. "I need you, Bruce! I am nothing without you! You can't just leave me here! We belong together!" Bruce just looked at him with dead eyes. "Goodbye, Jerome." Then he left the cell, the door being shut behind him by the guard._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________Jerome lunged forward in his chair, wanting to somehow grab him and pull him back. Blood covered his arms where the handcuffs had cut him. His desperation and pain finally broke out completely, his voice echoing through the cell into the corridor. "BRUCE! YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME HERE, BRUCIE! YOU NEED ME! WE BELONG TOGETHER, BRUCE! WE ALWAYS HAVE! I NEED YOU! _BRUCE! _"___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_____________Bruce kept his gaze fixed on the exit, Jerome's screams repeating in his head. He clenched his fists, following Alfred out of the building. "I don't need you.," he murmured. "I never have. And I never will. You mean nothing to me." His chest ached with every shaky breath. And in that moment he was sure that if he would repeat those words enough he would believe them soon._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


End file.
